Giving Circles with Bevin & Maggie May

Aug 30

On this episode of Financially Naked: Stories from The Financial Gym, our host is Bevin Morgan, Level 2 Certified Financial Trainer and she is joined by one of her clients, Maggie May. Today, they discuss a unique form of philanthropy: giving circles. Giving circles aim to make philanthropy accessible for people of all budgets! They are groups of like-minded people who pool together their time, energy, and money to make a difference. Maggie tells us about giving circles, how she and her friends founded The Undercard Collective, and how you can get involved in collective philanthropy.

Podcast Notes

Giving Circles - coming together as a collective to make an impact.

When people talk about traditional philanthropy, what comes to mind are the famous people who donate large sums of money.
Giving circles make philanthropy accessible for people of all budgets, lowering the barrier of entry to giving.

How it works: giving circles use the power of the collective to turn individual contributions into one large donation. Everybody donates a set amount of money, and the group decides where the total goes.

The Undercard Collective

Maggie and her friends were frustrated at the state of the world. They wanted to take those negative feelings and turn them into positive action.
She had been writing about giving circles for quite some time but was never part of one. She approached her closest friends with the ideas and in June, The Undercard Collective was born.
The suggested donation for Undercard’s members is $25 per month. The goal is for anyone who wants to be involved, without money being a barrier to entry, so there are also volunteer opportunities.
Each quarter is a different giving cycle. During the first month, members nominate organizations for the group donation. From there, the nominees are discussed among the collective and an anonymous vote is cast.
Undercard is on track to reach its $1000 goal for the upcoming grant cycle and wants to continue growing.
The best part of The Undercard Collective is getting to connect with a community to celebrate and fund the causes they believe in. They get to have fun, be silly, and get down to business.

Logistics for getting started:

If you are completely new and want to start your own giving circle, Maggie highly recommends Philanthropy Together. The next Launchpad is on 9/27/2022!
They have a pay-what-you-can 6-week workshop that walks through the logistics of giving circles! They teach you everything you need to know from start to end.
There are websites, like Grapevine, that will help you handle collecting the funds, and donating the money from the group to your organization of choice.
Some giving circles stay small and others become traditional 501c3 organizations.

Benefits of Giving Circles

Giving circles can have more mobility and flexibility than traditional non-profit organizations. They can avoid red tape and take immediate action.
Communities know what communities need. You can find a group or start your own to create positive change together. It’s a fairly simple process.
Giving circles can meet in person, or be completely virtual. Meeting with like-minded people working together on a goal is a great experience.
They make philanthropy accessible! No matter your budget, there is a path to get involved.
The Undercard Collective has big plans for the future and is always looking for new members and donations. To learn more about their mission, check out TheUndercardCollective.com